Accepted Speakers

Meet Our Expert Speakers

At Cutting Edge, we are bringing together the industry's leading thought leaders in urban tunneling.

At Cutting Edge, we are dedicated to bringing together some of the most reknowned professionals in urban tunneling in the industry. Learn more these speakers and their presentations in Technical Sessions.

Joshua L. Schank is the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer for the Los Angeles County Metro and former President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation a non-profit foundation with the mission of improving transportation policy and leadership. Dr. Schank, who is an urban planner, has worked on federal and state transportation policy over a decade.

Dr. Schank was Transportation Policy Advisor to Senator Hillary Clinton during the development of the last six year transportation authorization bill (SAFETEA-LU). He has also worked as a Consultant with PB Consult and Senior Associate at ICF International in Washington, D.C., as well as the Office of the Inspector General’s in the U.S. Department of Transportation, and with the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City.

Dr. Schank’s extensive work in transportation policy and planning is well documented in his publications, including “All Roads Lead to Congress: The $300 Billion Fight Over Highway Funding,” co-authored with Costas Panagopoulos and published by CQ Press in 2007. He holds a Ph.D. in urban planning from Columbia University, a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.A. in urban studies from Columbia University.

Simon Williams, Chief Executive and Co-Founder, QuantumBlack

Chief Executive and Co-Founder of QuantumBlack, a data science agency based in London, that blends strategy, analytics, engineering and design skills to help clients gain new intelligence from data, craft their strategic response to that intelligence and shape the organisations capabilities to deliver that response. QuantumBlack works internationally with some of the worlds most interesting organisations including Arup, Atkins, Boeing, Crossrail, McKinsey & Co, Microsoft, Standard & Poors, Thomson Reuters and several Formula One racing teams.

Prior to QuantumBlack Simon led SmithBayes, a data-driven software firm spun-out from the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One racing team. Simon started his career in real-time trading systems at Reuters and then product management at ABN AMRO Bank.

Bruno Combe, Tunnel Technical Director at BOUYGUES TP

Bruno Combe, the Tunnelling Technical Director at Bouygues Travaux Publics, started his career successively as Tunneling Site Engineer and Production Manager. Bruno's vast experience in tunneling solutions ranges from the estimating phase through to delivery, whilst responding to every challenge with an innovative approach backed by his sound technical expertise.

As Tunnelling Technical Director, Bruno's remit also covers innovation and R&D in tunneling, an area where Bouygues is a recognised international frontrunner, providing competitive advantage to the client through value-added and leading-edge practice. Bruno is also a member of the Technical Committee at the French Tunneling Association and a post-graduate lecturer in France, at the prominent INSA and ENTPE schools of Engineering.

With over 10 tunneling sites in operation each year, the tunneling expertise of Bouygues Travaux Publics remains an undisputed benchmark for the industry around the world.

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About UCA

The Cutting Edge Conference is organized in partnership with North American Tunneling Journal and the UCA of SME. The UCA Division of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (UCA of SME) is dedicated to provide the best professional products available to the industry through T&UC (Tunneling & Underground Construction) magazine, the George A. Fox Conference, the North American Tunneling Conference, and the North American Tunnel Demand Forecast.